Commonly overlooked wastes

The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) of 1976, and the subsequent Hazardous Solid Waste Amendments (HSWA) of 1984, collectively form the primary body of regulations which govern the disposal of solid wastes and hazardous wastes. These hazardous waste regulations have remained relatively stable since their inception, enabling most generators of these regulated wastes to develop fairly comprehensive programs in response. However, this stability has also allowed regulators more time to question the applicability of the regulations to materials which were probably not considered by the architects of the original legislation. Consequently, as the regulators have become more adept at interpreting the sometimes broad strokes of the regulations, generators have had to continually broaden the scope of materials evaluated for potential inclusion in each local hazardous waste program.